


Dog Person

by caitdarling



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-05
Updated: 2014-09-05
Packaged: 2018-02-16 06:56:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2260182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caitdarling/pseuds/caitdarling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With the curse broken and Zelena trapped in a jail cell, the whole town of Storybrooke seems to be celebrating- except for Emma, that is. Henry is busy trying to reconnect with everyone he hasn't seen during the missing year, leaving no time to spend with his birth mom, and he continues to refuse her efforts to move back to New York. David, meanwhile, notices how sad and alone Emma is, and comes to her rescue with puppies... and Killian.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dog Person

**Author's Note:**

> This was written post 3x19 ("A Curious Thing) and goes in a slightly different direction than the rest of the season.

 

Emma hummed a familiar tune as she poured orange powder into her pot of noodles. Eager to see her son again, she had prepared all of his favorites: video games, hot cocoa with cinnamon on top, and, now, mac n cheese.

She checked her watch. 8:20. _Late again,_ she sighed.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. She brushed off her jeans and hurried over to let Henry in- only it wasn’t Henry.

“Something smells good in here,” David mused in surprise as he stepped past Emma.

“It should- it came straight from a box,” she laughed.

David stole a spoonful from the pot, “Well it’s certainly better than Regina’s lasagna.”

Emma whacked his hand with the wooden spoon, “Oh no you don't- that’s for Henry.”

“Your mother didn’t tell you?” he grimaced.

Emma crossed her arms over her chest. “Didn’t tell me  _what_ exactly?”

“Well-“ he cleared his throat, “When Snow was taking him home, Henry asked to be dropped off at Regina’s for the night.”

Emma’s face fell. “Again? But he spent the last three nights there.”

“To be fair,” he shifted uneasily, ”You’ve spent every day with him for the last year. He just got all his memories back, and you're already trying to take him back New York.”

“Yeah, so things like  _this_ don’t keep happening. He’s _my_ son, and I’ve barely spent any time with him since we got here.”

“I know. I see where he’s coming from, that’s all. Henry will come around in time, but until then,” David grinned and served up the mac n cheese, “We shouldn’t let this gourmet meal go to waste!”

Emma rolled her eyes, but took her plate and a seat at the table. “So where’s Mary Margaret now?”

“On her way home from Regina’s,” he mumbled through a mouthful of food. “She should be here any second.”

On cue, Mary Margaret stumbled through the doorway, lugging six shopping bags at her side, panting, “Emma – Henry – Regina’s –”

David took the bags from her hands and placed them by the stairs. “She knows,” he told her.

He served her a plate of cheesy goodness, and Emma fought the need to make the conversation about Henry again. “So, um, how was your day?” she fished.

Mary Margaret went on and on about her time with Henry, leaving no detail out. Apparently, she bought him all the video games, clothes, and movies that he wanted. After a glance of disapproval from Emma, she folded her arms defensively. “Let a woman spoil her grandson, will you?”

Emma let it slide- at least someone could be there for him when she couldn’t be.

“And then he gave Regina a call from the car," Mary Margaret went on. "She, um… made mac n cheese.”

“You’re kidding,” Emma scoffed.

"From scratch.”

David kicked Mary Margaret under the table, giving her a very distinct stink eye.

“No, no, I get it,” Emma said dismissively. “Why would you want it from the box when you’ve got the real deal somewhere else?”

“Well, he’s missing out,” Mary Margaret tried. “This is delicious.”

Emma tossed her napkin on her plate and scooted out of her chair. “Yeah, well, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to call it a night.”

——

The next morning, Henry wasn’t at the diner for breakfast as he usually was. Emma’s heart sank; her morning already going south. She sipped her cocoa, David at her side, telling her to keep waiting. “He’ll turn up.”

The bell in the doorway chimed as the door swung open... it was Regina.  _Just_ Regina.

Emma waved her over and barely waited for her to take her seat before asking, “Where’s Henry?”

“And a good morning to you too, Emma,” Regina laughed, giving a friendly nod to David. “He went down to the docks at sunrise. To see your boyfriend, I presumed.”

“My boyfr—Hook?” Emma did her best to look unaffected, despite her flushed cheeks. Nobody was going to let her live down the whole drunken kiss thing. Sure it broke the curse on Killian's lips without removing her powers, but that didn't make it a "true love's kiss" like everyone was claiming. The curse was broken, Zelena was finally captured and locked up, they were celebrating. They were _drunk,_ for cryin' out loud. It wasn’t that big of a deal... was it? “You’ve got to stop calling him that.”

“Henry was pretty excited to get going,” she said gently. “It all happened so early. He came running into my room and shook my bed until I opened my eyes. Hell, I was barely awake when I said yes. I’m sorry.” And she meant it, Emma could tell. 

“No, you don’t have t- I mean, it’s alright, it’s fine.” But it wasn’t. She just wanted to see her son, damn it.

An awkward silence filled the air until David stood up and slipped Ruby a 10 for their cocoas. “C’mon, Emma, I got something to show you.”

——

As the truck slowed to a stop, Emma shot David a puzzled sideways look.  “The animal shelter?”

“Always the skeptic,” he muttered as he slid out of the car.

“I just don’t see how an injured animal is going to lift my spirits, that’s all.”

David hung an arm over his daughter’s shoulder as they walked in. “Oh, you’ll see!”

Emma rolled her eyes as David pulled her towards the front desk.

“Dr. Thatcher,” he beamed. “Could you please escort this beautiful young lady to see Sandy.”

“What, you’re not coming?” Emma asked.

“I think you’ll be in good hands.” David said with a wink. "I'll see you later, sweet heart."

Thatcher placed his arm on Emma’s back, and led her towards a room at the end of the hall. On the way, he explained how Sandy, a stray they found along the beach a year ago, had quite the busy missing year. In Thatcher’s absence, she somehow found other dogs to interact with, survived pregnancy, and kept herself and eight youngsters alive. And the closer they got to Sandy’s room, the more yaps, whines, and scratching noises she could hear.

 _Puppies?_ Emma groaned internally. Not that she had anything against them, but if David actually thought her  _son_ could be replaced by an untrained fur-ball, he had another thing coming.

“We ran a series of tests, and they’re all perfectly healthy, 1-month old golden retrievers.”

Emma nodded, her hands in her pockets, still not really sure why she was here.

“Alright, Ms. Swan,” Thatcher turned the knob of the door carefully, “These little guys are fast and we can’t have them running off, so, on the count of three?” He counted down, “3, 2, 1,” and swung the door open just enough to let Emma slip in.

Much to her surprise, not only did she find eight puppies and their mother, but Killian was there too- lying down, buried somewhere beneath all the golden fluff. She couldn’t help but laugh. “Man down!”

Killian perked his head up, his smile absolutely radiant. “Emma…”

They hadn’t seen each other since their kiss- their drunken, stupid kiss- their… true love’s kiss… whatever. It’d been four days, and yet, Emma couldn’t have felt more comfortable.

She folded her arms over her chest, trying to conceal the fact that her heart was melting more and more by the second. “Killian, what’re you doing here?”

“Making your day, apparently,” he answered with a smug grin.

She sat down beside him in hopes that he wouldn’t notice how red cheeks must’ve become.Immediately, the puppies all swarmed to Emma’s lap. Their mother went straight to her, circling her and sniffing warily. When she decided Emma was not a threat to her litter, she nudged her for affection. Emma rubbed behind her ears mindlessly, as she continued to interrogate Hook. “How’d you know I’d be here?”

“Your father tipped me off,” he said through his broad smile as he tickled the belly of the smallest pup.

“David?” Emma tried to resist the cute pups and the tickling sensation on her legs as they crawled across her lap.

“Aye. He said that, with Henry being so preoccupied, you might need some light in your life- something to lift your spirits and give you a reason to smile again.”

"Somebody's cocky," she laughed nervously.

"I wasn't referring to _myself,_ Swan. Rather, the idea I suggested." 

"Wait, this was _your_ idea?”  She watched as two pups were play-fighting each other- nipping, biting, shoving, falling over… she'd assumed it was all David's idea. 

"That it was," he nodded. "I thought you might find the same simple pleasures in it that I do,” he said, stroking the pup’s neck and looking lovingly into its eyes. “Companionship. Love. Filling a void.” Their eyes met for a beat. "That's what I explained to your father, anyway. He said he couldn't have thought of a better solution. He also said you should be with the one person who knows you best." He scratched the back of his ear and kept his eyes focused on the pup in his lap. "This time I'm referring to myself." 

“Killian," Emma started tentatively. "Where’s Henry? I thought he was with you.”

“He was," Killian sighed. "He got to the docks quite early and we watched the sun rise. He had me drop him off at Rumplestiltskin's after that.” Just from a quick side-glance, he could see the sadness in Emma’s eyes. “He wanted to talk about his father, mostly… and Robin and Regina as well… not to mention your parents, Ruby, Belle, Rumplestiltskin… and you _._ ” Killian shifted so he and Emma were petting the same dog. “He never shut up about you.”

“And how disappointed he is with me for wanting to move back to New York?” she brushed off.

“Not at all.” His fingers brushed softly against hers as he tussled the puppy’s fur. “He’s a smart lad. He knows your intentions, your fears, but his home is _here_ , Swan. As is yours, I hope.”

Their eyes met once more, and the rest of them froze. Emma’s mouth quivered, like there was something she wanted to say, but the puppy they neglected while they were sharing a moment suddenly licked her finger, making her giggle instead. “You rascal,” she muttered as she swooped him up into her arms. “Shadow,” she read from the bone-shaped charm on his collar. 

  
“And this little guy,” Killian said as picked up the runt, “is Scamp.”

Emma scratched at the space between his ears. “Hey, Scamp,” she said in a silly voice. “And who else do we got here?”

Killian’s brows furrowed. “Let’s see, we’ve got Copper,” he said as he pointed to the pup using a hind leg to scratch his ear. “Bolt,” the pup who was running in circles, chasing its tail. “Dodger’s the one keeps pouncing to reach the door handle –  _keep dreaming_ _, Dodge!_ And that’d be Angel curled up at your side.” Emma hadn’t even noticed her, sound asleep, among all the chaotic pups around her. “And Georgette,” he gestured towards the pup licking her paws clean. 

“And the one with the bow?” Emma asked, nodding at a pup with a pink bow behind her ear.

“That’d be Rosebud! She’s Thatcher’s favorite – the bow lets people know she’s not for sale.”

Emma smiled to herself as she watched Killian playing with the puppies. He’d slide one across the floor, and it’d come prancing right back. He’d pick another one up and whisk it around his head, airplane style, before laying it down gently. He’d play tug-of-war and fetch, and he even growled back if a puppy growled at him.

“I never pegged you as a dog-person,” Emma mused.

“Did you assume I prefer parrots?” he jested.

“No, I-“ Emma didn’t know  _what_ she’d assumed. “It’s just a whole new side to you, that’s all.”

It wasn’t long until Emma joined in on the games. At one point, she and Killian played keep-away with a squishy ball (the pups  _loved_ that one; they kept running in circles between the two, toppling over one another along the way).

As the pups finally seemed to wear out, Emma and Killian sat shoulder-to-shoulder against the wall, still letting out huffs of laughter as the pups fought over the best spot on mom’s belly to cuddle in.

It wasn’t until her phone vibrated, minutes later, that Emma realized she’d been resting her head on Killian’s shoulder. “It’s Henry,” she said apologetically.

“Hi, Henry," she cried happily. "How’s you’re day so far, kid?” It was going great, but he wanted to go to Tinkerbell’s for dinner. “Yeah, that’s- that’s fine, kid. Have fun.”  _Click._

It wasn’t fine.

Emma silently burned with jealousy and depression, and she had to focus her attention on the pups to calm her down. They were all sound asleep with their mother, except for Angel, who was still by Emma’s side, and Scamp, who was curiously wandering around the room, sniffing every toy he passed.

“The lad truly does love you,” Killian tried, taking her hand in his. “He just has a whole town-full of family members to squeeze into his heart as well. Your true love’s kiss saved his life and broke the first curse, if I recall correctly. And, speaking from experience, once you start loving Emma Swan, you never can stop.”

Emma stifled a laugh at that ridiculously cheesy-yet-sweet comment. She exhaled slowly, knowing Killian was right about Henry. She really  _didn’t_ have to worry. Once he’s caught up with everyone in Storybrooke, everything should go back to normal.

Just then, Hook ripped off a strip of fabric from the bottom of his black scarf and fastened it into a bow for Scamp.

“I could buy him for you,” Emma suggested.

“And take him away from his mother?” Killian asked with a wink. “Not a chance.”

Emma wasn’t sure if it was because she was feeling good, or because of his annoyingly distracting chest hair, or because her emotionally compromising day, but the next thing she knew, she had her lips pressed to Killian’s and her hands roaming underneath his scarf and across his bare chest. She pulled away to catch her breath, surprised to find herself wanting more –  _needing_ more. She tugged him in by the collar, straddling him to deepen the kiss.

At first, Killian was too stunned to react, but it didn’t take long for his hands to work their way up her shirt, his fingers pressing into her skin. Emma breathed in his scent, and with her eyes closed, she could almost forget the pet shelter and imagine themselves on the beach, or on the deck of the Jolly Roger. His soft lips continued to mesh with hers, tongues wandering, hearts racing, world spinning- until Scamp started yapping and nipping at the bottom of Emma’s top.

“Well isn’t that sweet,” she laughed. “He’s protecting you!”

“That’s an interesting way to put it,” Killian muttered, running his good hand through his hair.

“C’mon," Emma nudged. "I think visiting hours are over,” 

Killian was up before she was and he pulled her to her feet. She laced her fingers with his for a quick moment, before heading out into public and shoving her hands deep into her pockets. Even after adding up a “one time thing,” a failed attempt at a true love's kiss, a drunken but successful true loves kiss, and… whatever that just was… it still didn't equate to a relationship just yet, and Emma barely knew what to make of it herself. She glanced at Killian to gauge his reaction, but he seemed perfectly content wiping the dog hair off his jacket as he left.

He understood that she needed time; he always understood.

 


End file.
